A Spring man was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday for threatening the life of President Bush.

Gordon L. Chadwick, 27, stood in green prison garb with his hands chained to his waist when he told U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison that he was sorry for all he had done, including threatening the judge's life.

His lawyer, Samy Khalil, told the judge that Chadwick threatened to kill the president, the judge and a Montgomery County official in letters written while he was in solitary confinement in a Montgomery County jail.

"This case is truly a case about mental health," the public defender told the judge in pleading for leniency.

Ellison told Chadwick that he didn't take the threat on his own life seriously, but that he would step off the case if Chadwick or his attorney thought it was a conflict of interest. Both men said they were happy with Ellison.

"I want to be a man and step up," said Chadwick, a tall man with a star tattoo on his face, a spider web tattoo on his neck and other tattoos going down his arms.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for what I did."

While Chadwick was talking to the judge, an unusual number of court security guards stood all around the courtroom.

Mother seeks leniency

A probation officer told the court that though he was sympathetic to Chadwick's mental health history, the man still had to answer for his actions.

The court discussion among attorneys, the judge and the probation officer revealed that Chadwick has been in and out of jail most of his adult life for crimes including indecent exposure, assault and theft.

His mother, Elly Davis, said that keeping her son on necessary medication was difficult. She also asked the judge for leniency.

She and another relative said jail time had hardened Chadwick and was at the root of many of his problems.

"He is not a threat to anyone except to himself," Chadwick's mother told the judge.

Chadwick is serving a four-year prison term for threatening a Montgomery County jail official and will serve his federal term for writing the threatening letter to Bush after he's completed the county sentence.

Prosecutor Michael Schultz told the judge that to run the two sentences concurrently would mean Chadwick had no punishment for threatening to kill Bush.

Ellison ordered Chadwick to participate in a drug/alcohol dependency program, a mental health program and to get his high school diploma or equivalency when he is on a three-year supervised period after he is released from federal prison.